Finishing tool



Jan. 28, 1941.

A. COCOZELLA FINISHING TOOL Filed July 25, 1959 Patented Jan. 28, 1941 UNITED STATES 2,229,726 FINISHING TOOL Anthony Cocozella, Lynn,

Mass, assignor to United Shoe Machinery Corporation, Borough of Flemington, N. J., a corporation of New Jersey Application July 25, 1939, Serial No. 286,4:17

13 Claims.

This invention relates to finishing tools and is herein illustrated, by way of example but not of limitation, as embodied in a buffing roll for smoothing, polishing, or abrading the bottoms 6 of shoes.

After a shoe has been assembled, it is customary, as a part of the finishing operations, to buff the sole and frequently the heel breast of a shoe in order to remove any slight imperfections or discolorations and to prepare the shoe bottom to receive the finishing liquids. In those shoes in which both the heel breast and the sole must be buffed, operators experience great dificuity in reaching the portion of the shoe bottom at and adjacent to the junction of the sole and heel breast, especially if this junction forms a sharp corner. To reach into these close corners it has heretofore been necessary to use a flat disk having a radial buffing surface or to perform the operation by hand. Certain disadvantages are attendant upon the use of a fiat disk, however, chief among these being that the direction of the buffing is crosswise of the heel breast rather than lengthwise so that if there is any lateral curvature to the heel breast the disk operates unsatisf-actorily. Heretofore, the use of a spindle with a bufiing sleeve has also been found unsatisfactory since it is not possible with such a tool to reach into the corners of the work piece being operated upon.

With these considerations in view, it is an object of the present invention to provide a finishing tool with which it will be possible to reach into dificult corners such as those found in shoe bottoms at the junction of the sole and a Continental or an Argentine heel. Accordingly, the invention provides a buffing roll having a plurality of peripheral surfaces which intersect to form a number of salient portions projecting radially outward from the body of the roll and extending longitudinally thereof. Through the provision of these salient portions an operator may, when the roll is rotated, reach into and buff mechanically many places which he would be unable to reach with an ordinary cylindrical roll of comparable diameter.

The invention will be better understood when considered with relation to the accompanying drawing, in which Fig. 1 is a side view of the bufiing tool, a portion being broken away to show its structure;

Fig. 2 is an end view of the tool illustrated in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig. 1 showing a modified form of the tool;

Fig. 4 is an end view of the tool illustrated in Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is an end view of another modification of the invention; and

Fig, 6 illustrates the tool operating on a shoe.

As illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2 the invention comprises a soft rubber roll l0 which is hollow and hasv a triangular cross section. The corners l2 of the roll are rounded slightly and constitute salient portions which project radially outward from the body of the roll and extend longitudinally of the roll, thus forming the workdoing sections of the roll. When the roll is to be used for abrading rather than polishing or buffing, an abrasive sleeve l4 may be slipped over it, fitting tightly about its periphery. The roll is supported on a rotatable shaft 16 which extends lengthwise of the roll to provide adequate radial support. Preferably, as illustrated in Fig. 1, the shaft is reduced in diameter at l8 so that its end portion 20 does not come in contact with the roll. Thus when a work piece is pressed against the roll, the end portion will yield to an extent limited by the reduced end portion 21] of the shaft.

Use of this tool is particularly advantageous in that type of shoe wherein the heel breast and the sole form a sharp angle. To use the roll on such a work piece, the operator presses the work firmly against the roll, forcing the inner surface of the roll into contact with the end portion 20 of the shaft. It has been found by experiment that when the roll is rotating against such a work piece at a speed substantially slower than that at which ordinary buffing tools are operated, the corners 12 of the roll first strike against the heel breast B and the sole 0. On further rotation of the roll, the corners press the abrasive sleeve against the surfaces of the heel breast and the sole and rub the abrasive across it. As the side of the roll approaches parallelism with the heel breast or the sole, depending on the direction of rotation, the distortion of the roll caused by the pressure of the work against it decreases and the resiliency of the rubber tends to force the corner E2 of the roll into the corner formed in the work piece, thus enabling the operator to smooth those portions of the heel breast and the outsole which are close to the corner and which he would be unable to reach with an ordinary cylindrical roll.

As pointed out, the roll is rotated at speeds substantially slower than those at which ordinary buffing tools are operated. The most satisfactory speed will, of course, be dependent on the angular disposition of the surfaces operated upon, the nature of the material, and other factors, but for most purposes a speed of between 100 and 150 R. P. M. will be found suitable.

Alternatively, as illustrated in Figs. 3 and 4 o the roll may be formed as a hollow cylinder 22, one section 24 of which is square in cross section. In such case, the cylindrical portion of the tool serves as a convenient means for buffing other parts of the shoe bottom, either as a complete operation or for touching up spots that were not properly buffed before. If desired the roll may be mounted on a short shaft 26 which extends into the roll only as far as the square section 24. The abrasive sleeve I4 which fits over the roll may in such case be cemented to the cylindrical portion thereof. Figs. 3 and 4 illustrate the manner in which the sleeve fits loosely over the square section 24 of the roll and comes in contact with it only at its corners 28. When the loose sleeve is first pressed in engagement with a work piece, it quickly assumes the shape of the surface of the supporting roll. Any wrinkles formed in the course of this conformation do not, however, interfere with the efficiency of the op eration of the tool.

As pointed out the roll is made of a relatively.

soft rubber. It may, therefore, be found desirable, particularly if a short shaft is used, to provide extra stiffness for the corners of the roll. For this purpose, a number of pins may be provided. These pins are embedded in the body of the roll at its corners and provide some addition-al support against distortion when a work piece is pressed against the roll. They should not, however, be so still as to eliminate completely the resiliency of the roll.

In some shoes having very high heels the angle between the sole and the heel breast may be so sharp that it is desirable to use .a tool modified, as in Fig. 5, so as to have only two longitudinally extending salient portions. This roll may, of course, be mounted on a short shaft 26 as illustrated in Fig. 3 or on a shaft [6 having an end portion reduced in diameter as illustrated in Fig,

1. Such a modification does not affect the principles of operation of the tool, since the prominences act in substantially the same manner as they do in the triangular or square roll.

It will be obvious to those skilled in the art that considerable variation may be made in the tool to suit various types of work. For example, if it is to be used on a heel breast having a slight lateral curvature, the roll may be curved longitudinally to correspond therewith as illustrated in Fig. 3. Similarly if the roll is to be used on work having parts which form obtuse angles, the roll may be made with more than three or four sides, so that it is polygonal in cross section, polygonal being used here and in the claims to include both rectilinear and curvilinear polygons. Such modifications are, of course, clearly within the scope and fundamental spirit of the invention.

Having thus described the invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. A rotary finishing tool comprising a resilient roll having not more than four salient portions projecting radially outward from the body of said roll and extending longitudinally of said roll.

2. A rotary finishing tool comprising a resilient roll one section of which has not more than four peripheral surface portions which intersect to form salient portions projecting radially outward from the body of said roll and extending longi tudinally of said roll.

3. A rotary finishing tool comprising a re silient roll having a flat peripheral Working surface.

4. A rotary finishing tool comprising a resilient roll having a fiat working surface substantially parallel to its axis of rotation.

5. A rotary finishing tool comprising a resilient roll one portion of which has a polygonal radial cross section.

6. A rotary finishing tool comprising a resilient roll one portion of which is square in cross section.

'7. A rotary finishing tool comprising a resilient roll one portion of which is triangular in cross section.

8. A rotary finishing tool comprising a resilient roll having a peripheral working surface one portion of which is fiat and substantially parallel to its axis of rotation and another portion of which is cylindrical.

9. A rotary finishing tool comprising a resilient roll having not more than four longitudinally extending salient portions projecting radially outward from the body of said roll, and a plurality of stiffening pins embedded in said roll.

10. A rotary finishing tool comprising a rubber roll one section of which has not more than four peripheral surfaces intersecting each other to form longitudinally extending pro-minences, and a plurality of stiffening members embedded in said roll adjacent said prominences.

11. A buffing device comprising a rotatable shaft one portion of which is reduced in diameter, and a buffing roll having not more than four longitudinally extending salient portions projecting radially outward from the body of said roll, said roll being mounted on said shaft and overextending said reduced portion in spaced relation thereto.

12. A bufiing device comprising a rubber roll having a peripheral working surface and. having one portion which is polygonal in cross section, a rotatable shaft on which said roll is mounted, a plurality of pins embedded in the corners of the polygonal portion of said roll, and a sleeve of abrading material fitting over said roll.

13. A buffing device comprising a rotatable shaft one end of which is reduced in diameter, a rubber roll mounted on said shaft oxerextending said reduced end in spaced relation thereto and having one portion which has a polygonal radial cross section and another portion which has a cylindrical radial cross section, a plurality of stiffening pins embedded in said roll at the junctions of the straight sides of said polygonal portion, and a sleeve of abrading material fitting closely about said cylindrical portion and extending loosely over said polygonal portion.

ANTHONY COCOZELLA. 

